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Ford is One. The automaker hocked every asset to defy the odds of the Great Recession without government handouts, transforming itself while successfully auctioning off all its superfluous brands, getting back to its roots and unifying its mainstream models in North America, Europe, and Asia for the first time since, probably, the Model T.

That means it’s all over for the current Fusion and Mondeo. If you’ve been waiting on a killer deal on one of those, now’s the time. The Ford Evos concept will debut mid-September at the Frankfurt International Auto Show, and smart money says you’ll see much of its exterior design, and even some of the interior design, on the new production version of the Fusion when it bows at the North American International Auto Show next January in Detroit.

When “Alan (Mulally, FoMoCo CEO) arrived, the end of ’06,” Ford CCO J Mays says, “he made my life a lot easier, because where we were designing cars for three regions before, he said, ‘Why don’t we do it once?’ I’m all for that.”

Mays won’t go on record that the Evos is the next Fusion/Mondeo, however. The concept is C-car (Focus) in length and C/D-plus car width. “I would say 85 to 90 percent of what you see here, you’ll see this design DNA in short order coming to production,” he says.

One Ford, as we’ve noted numerous times, is the mirror image of Volkswagen of America’s new strategy. The 2012 Passat is larger than its rest-of-the-world-except-China counterpart, as VW is targeting specific models for our market. That’s not to say One Ford is completely global-centric; its hugely successful F-Series (a model that engenders extreme jealousy among companies like VW and Toyota) likely will remain the nation’s bestseller for years to come, and the ’15 Mustang will continue to be the American-centric icon no matter where it’s sold.

“On Taurus, because we’re looking at that vehicle as a possible car that might at some point be sold outside the United States, that one I think in the future has the possibility of inheriting this design language,” Ford design VP Mays says.

If the new Focus is any guide, the 2013 Ford Fusion will be something like 80-90 percent of what the European Ford Mondeo will be, jumping into the market less than half a year after the ’12 VW Passat. Right on top of the ’13 Chevrolet Malibu (Motor Trend, September). Amidst the all-new ’12 Toyota Camry, ’13 Honda Accord, and ’13 Nissan Altima. For such a safe, boring automotive segment, this is going to be fun. It is the U.S. market’s biggest, even if Europe prefers Focus-sized C-segment cars.

How have Mays, his engineering counterpart Derrick Kuzak, and company tackled this critical car? On the engineering side, we can say the next Ford Fusion ditches six-cylinder variants, just like the new Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima, and the coming Chevy Malibu. It will come with four-cylinder and turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder powertrains exclusively.

The Evos concept features a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain with a lithium-ion battery pack similar in scope to what the automaker is planning for its Ford C-Max Energi, which is scheduled for introduction in North America next year. So far, Ford has been coy about what engine will be under the hood of the C-Max Energi (no doubt one of its smaller displacement EcoBoost mills), but is calling out a 500-mile range in the C-Max Energi. We’d expect to see a version of this powertrain available down the line in any next-gen Fusion.

Ford is also providing a glimpse of its future vision for how future cars would interact with the road with the Evos. The engineers at Ford’s Research and Innovation laboratories are working on drawing from the driver’s ‘personal cloud’ of information as well as data from the road ahead in order to optimize the car’s dynamics.

For example, the Ford team envisions the car being able to learn each driver’s habits and capabilities. Using that data, in conjunction with topographical data, weather and other factors, will enable the car to dial in tailored experience for the driver by optimizing powertrain, suspension and other settings based on that data. Pretty heady stuff.

On the design side, the two most critical cues appear to be the grille and the coupe-like roofline. Martin Smith’s “Kinetic” design language features the inverted-trapezoid grille in the lower fascia, as found on the Fiesta and Focus.

“We’ve taken the best of what we consider the kinetic design language and we’ve created a Global Design Language,” Mays says. Yes, it’s all in capitals because that’s its official name. “It’s an evolution of kinetic, if you want to see it that way.”

The Evos’ inverted trapezoid has been moved up from the lower fascia to become the car’s grille. “The new face of Ford” doesn’t need a large lower grille for air intake, Mays says. In fact, while Mays insists the ’15 Mustang will remain thoroughly American in its design language, he allows that some Global Design cues could trickle in. The Evos’ grille looks much like the grille in Motor Trend’s prediction of what the next Mustang will look like (see the October issue).

The concept plays up the “coupe-like roofline” because as a concept car, it appears to be a two-door coupe. No, Ford will not wade into these dead-end design waters.

“The reason we do this is for show business,” Mays says. “It makes it great for the photographers who want to shoot the interior. And it also gives us some theater for the show.”

Keep in mind that Mays has not really said anything about the ’13 model production sedan. This is concept-only.

“It’s too early for us to talk about the car that is coming. But I think we’ll capture the essence of this car, but we’ll capture it in a higher volume car than you’d consider … say, a Volkswagen CC.”

This hints that the ’13 Fusion’s roofline will be closer to – dare we say? – a Hyundai Sonata’s.

“I think the (four-door coupe) look is ready for that type of car, but not done in a way that will sacrifice interior space.”

In his presentation, Mays never spoke of breaking out of the vanilla midsize sedan mold, like so many of his competitors have in the past 10 years, with a “sporty,” “passionate,” or “expressive” sedan. You still have to carry four or five people comfortably and efficiently, no more and certainly no less, to be part of America’s largest car segment.

Mays and Co. think they have a different way of breaking out. Luxury. Yes, that’s been a one-way ticket to Palookaville for Ford and many of its competitors in the past. This isn’t a way to raise the price of Ford’s midsizer, though the Fiesta and new Focus’ top trim levels give some pause. Rather, it’s a recognition that middle-class consumers consistently strive for aspirational products.

“Visual premiumness” is the final of “six pillars of Global Design DNA” Mays lists in his presentation of the Evos concept. At first glance, the Evos’ profile could be a Jaguar, a stunning take on when Ford tried a Mondeo-based Jag a decade ago.

They begin with “silhouette innovation.” “We wanted a silhouette that was far sportier and in line with the fun-to-drive aspects of the car,” he says. “At the same time, we wanted to get the visual receipt of what I would call ‘perceived efficiency.’ So the car, in addition to its teardrop cabin, appears to have lines on its side that go to a single vanishing point and create a teardrop shape itself. You’ll notice the car has thinner pillars than what we’re used to seeing on most cars today. We think that looks lightweight and agile.”

The thin C- and A-pillars are about thick enough to meet rollover crash standards, particularly with greater use of high-strength steels. The next Fusion and Taurus will ditch their thick C-pillars for this design language.

“You start to see the car that has a beautiful, simple profile. There’s no trickery there. We’re not trying to provoke customers. We’re trying to seduce them.”

Next is “refined surface language.” Mays allows there are cars in Ford’s own portfolio that have too much “surface entertainment,” particularly in the side surfacing.

“I think those cars become a design language that’s more what I’d describe as ‘of the moment,’ as opposed to a design language that has longevity. What would premium brands do? What would a Maserati or Bentley do? Without being that reserved, is there a classicism that we can bring to these lines without making them dull or too conservative? And so the line here is, keeping the dynamic qualities of keeping them kinetic, but making them more refined and premium.”

Fourth is “technical graphics.” The thin, horizontal headlamps, for example, are just shy of production standards and eschew the trend toward big, vertical headlamps with lots of dead space. “Technical graphics” also means a windshield with lot of curve to it. “It’s got an extraordinary plan view. We’re all fans of the Ferrari 250,” Mays says. And he Evos has a lot of tumblehome. Ask Mays about it and he describes a design that has us thinking about General Motors’ best from decades ago.

“On this particular vehicle, it’s almost creating a fuselage effect, through the B-pillar. But then that’s accentuated by these haunches over the front and rear wheel. And there’s nothing crazy going on here. I would just say they’re beautifully executed.”

This comes together as “the new face of Ford,” the fifth pillar. It’s pretty clear the Evos’ inverted pyramid grille moved up the front of the car, with the Blue Oval above the grille, on the hood, and the thin, horizontal headlamps is the new face of the Fusion and Mondeo.

Like most concept cars, the Ford Evos has more show business than reality going on inside, though Mays points to a few realistic cues. The driver-oriented “inverted L-shaped” cockpit, with aluminum and other materials that are part of the interior’s structure, and not just appliqués, hint at future Ford interiors. Chief technical officer Paul Mascarenas’ Research & Innovation Center is looking at such features as cloud computing, monitoring the driver’s health, and adaptive suspension damping for such cars.

So can the next Fusion look premium without being premium? Toyota has laid down the midsize sedan gauntlet, maintaining or even lowering pricing on its new ’12 Camry, depending on trim level, so there’s not going to be a lot of room to move the ’13 Fusion upmarket when it goes on sale next year. Mays insists that’s not in the plans, anyway.

“What we’re trying to do is give our mainstream customer a premium experience. I think that’s a different strategy than trying to make the brand go premium.”